Today for your Monday challenge I would like you to create a layout the prominently features a number. I needed to catch up on Ava's monthly layouts and I thought it would be fun to have a big number 2 for 2 months. Have fun and hope this helps you scrap some photos you really needed to like it did me.

I will probably change this one and upload it again - or so, as I did it in a hurry to get it done today. I'm a FISH, duh! is what Michelle had to remind us constantly - everyone told her what a cute hen she was...

Starting to get back into the swing of things. It's amazing how you get used to having PS set-up a certain way, and how hard it is to put it back to the way it was after your computer dies. Here's mine: Joshua's 9th Birthday

I did a two page layout for this challenge as I wanted to include the original words to the poem written by Francis Scott Key as well as a photo of the original flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814.

Here is some additional information on Francis Scott Key and The Star Spangled Banner:

On September 13, 1814, Francis Scott Key pens a poem which is later set to music and in 1931 becomes America's national anthem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The poem, originally titled "The Defence of Fort McHenry," was written after Key witnessed the Maryland fort being bombarded by the British during the War of 1812. Key was inspired by the sight of a lone U.S. flag still flying over Fort McHenry at daybreak, as reflected in the now-famous words of the "Star-Spangled Banner": "And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there."

On June 18, 1812, America declared war on Great Britain after a series of trade disagreements. In August 1814, British troops invaded Washington, D.C., and burned the White House, Capitol Building and Library of Congress. Their next target was Baltimore.After one of Key's friends, Dr. William Beanes, was taken prisoner by the British, Key went to Baltimore, located the ship where Beanes was being held and negotiated his release. However, Key and Beanes weren't allowed to leave until after the British bombardment of Fort McHenry. Key watched the bombing campaign unfold from aboard a ship located about eight miles away. After a day, the British were unable to destroy the fort and gave up. Key was relieved to see the American flag still flying over Fort McHenry and quickly penned a few lines in tribute to what he had witnessed.

The poem was printed in newspapers and eventually set to the music of a popular English drinking tune called "To Anacreon in Heaven" by composer John Stafford Smith. People began referring to the song as "The Star-Spangled Banner" and in 1916 President Woodrow Wilson announced that it should be played at all official events. It was adopted as the national anthem on March 3, 1931.

Today, the flag that flew over Fort McHenry in 1814 is housed at the Smithsonian Institution’s Museum of American History in Washington, D.C.